Vintage 1920s Chinese Mahjong Game 144 French Ivory Tiles

This is a vintage 1920s Chinese mahjong game, made in Canada and featuring beautifully crafted tiles of celluloid plastic over wood—often referred to as "French Ivory.” Each tile is printed, including a peacock design on the One Bam tile, and flower tiles including a rickshaw, palanquin, farmer and junk boat.  The crak tiles are marked in the simpler style indicating an earlier version of Mahjong

This vintage 1920s Chinese mahjong game is fully complete and includes eight wooden racks, metal scoring coins, and two“Ma-Jong Counting Set” tins marked Thos. Davidson Mfg. Co. Ltd., Montreal.  The tins appear to be rather rare.

Vintage 1920s Chinese mahjong game includes:

144 engraved playing tiles (Characters, Bamboos, Circles, Winds, Dragons, and Flowers)

8 wood tile racks, the red one reading HA-KO Rack trade mark on its underside, and another that reads “Chinese Games Manufacturers of Mah-Johng, Tables and Accessories Dominion Express Bldg. Montreal”.  Some racks have scoring instructions affixed and others do not.  There are 2 original Davidson counting tins, each containing four coin holders.  Also included is a full set of metal scoring coins in silver, red, green, and maroon with marked denominations, and two dice

Measurements:

Tiles: 1 1/8" tall × 13/16" wide × 1/2" thick

Made of early celluloid plastic over wood, likely beech or maple core

Condition: This vintage 1920s Chinese mahjong game is in very good condition - tiles are clean and crisply printed with no noted wear.  Some of the scoring coins have paint wear and some are stuck together - perhaps a soaking will unstick them, but the majority are loose.  The two original tins retain strong paint with some surface wear, one of the tins with a patch of missing paint on the lid. Given its age, this is still a well-preserved and playable set with unusual metal coins, and original tins.  There is no case, but the set was stored in a small suitcase in which the game will be shipped.

A Note on the Makers:

Thos. Davidson Mfg. Co. Ltd. was a major Canadian producer of lithographed tin ware during the early 20th century.  They may have made the tins and coin holders, but I think this vintage 1920s Chinese mahjong game might have been made by Chinese Games of Montreal - I have previously had set made by them.

This is a beautiful and complete vintage 1920s Chinese mahjong game with attractive details and Canadian provenance—perfect for collectors, players, or display.